Last night's trip to the observatory was such a great experience! It is jointly run by the University of Canterbury and Nagoya University in Japan, and is up on Mt John at 1031m (about 300m above Lake Tekapo). I checked in at the Earth and Sky Centre in the village at 11.45pm and we were given big warm coats and driven 4km up the hill in a shuttle bus. About half way up the hill, the driver had to turn off the headlights so as not to interfere with the telescope...

As today was our last full day together, we decided we'd celebrate Phil's birthday to make up for the fact that he'll be sitting on a plane for most of his actual birthday. We spent the morning packing up and taking Norah, our beloved campervan, back to the Christchurch depot. We were pretty sad to leave her behind but were soon comforted by our Salerno Motel Apartments. I'd booked a deluxe spa studio as a birthday surprise for Phil - we weren't disappointed! We ...

Today has been Phil's favourite day so far. Why? He finally got to try out surfing! We drove to Sumner, Christchurch for a group surfing lesson on Scarborough Bay this afternoon. The sun was shining and it turned out that there were just the two of us, so we got a private lesson for half the price! The lesson lasted 2 hours and an extra 2 hours using the wetsuits and surfboards afterwards is included in the price. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous and slight...